Perjudian dalam game GTA Online kini diblokir di Australia

Australian GTA Online players are reporting they've been blocked from in-game gambling features, meaning they can no longer play blackjack, roulette or three card poker in the Diamond Casino, among other mini-games. Users attempting to access these mini-games are now hit with a "this feature is not available for you" notification.

Following widespread reports of the ban, GTA Online dataminer Tex2 unearthed the applicable code, clearly showing a territory-based restriction on Casino House, Three Card Poker, Inside Track, Lucky Wheel, Blackjack, Roulette and Slots.

In Australia, games with simulated gambling need to carry an R18+ classification, which GTA Online has always done. In GTA Online, players have to purchase Casino Chips with GTA$, which can be earned in-game or via the purchase of Shark Cash Cards with real money. Money won in the Diamond Casino cannot be converted back into real money—in other words, you cannot gamble for big real world wins in GTA Online, at least not legally and within the bounds of Rockstar's terms of service—though it's possible to use real money on the simulated gambling.

In other words, as distasteful as it may be to some, GTA Online's in-game gambling is technically legal in Australia. That said, the block on in-game gambling does arrive at a time when the Australian federal government is clamping down on online gambling harms. There's every chance this is a preemptive measure.

There's also another factor: As one user in the GTA Forums notes, GTA Online was re-classified for Xbox on July 22 using the automated IARC rating system. The new consumer advice doesn't include "high impact gambling", which it would need to if the Diamond Casino features were available.

I've reached out to Rockstar for a statement on the ban.

If the ban proves permanent, Australia will join a pretty sizeable list of countries where GTA Online's simulated gambling isn't available, including South Africa, Poland, China, Argentina and more. It also looks pretty likely that if GTA 6's eventual online component has simulated gambling, Australia won't get to access it.